


night out

by watchmyback



Series: sasusaku month [7]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Drunkenness, F/M, drunk!sasuke, most notably
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 21:55:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1915245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watchmyback/pseuds/watchmyback
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>she’d never seen sadness spelt so plainly on his face.</p>
            </blockquote>





	night out

As soon as Sakura got off her shift at the hospital, she felt all the tension leave her body.  It was Thursday, and it was girls’ night.

Upon arrival, the kunoichi had settled into the largest booth they could find, hidden away in the dark back corner of the room.  They’d been there for hours now, several rounds of sake in, the conversation flowing easily as laughter drifted towards the bar.  

Beside her Ino was gabbing loudly to Hinata, nearly smacking Sakura in the face as she gestured wildly.  Sakura knew from experience that Hinata was the perfect listener.  Temari and Tenten were intently discussing tactics and boyfriends opposite her.  It was seamless; one moment they’d be comparing jutsu, the next minute one would bring up Neji’s last mission, and then “that reminds me, Shikamaru did the stupidest thing the other day, wanna hear?”

Sakura loved her friends.  She leaned in to tell Temari how Shikamaru tripped up the Hokage office stairs yesterday, dropping about a million classified files in the process, but she stopped short.  Her eyes had caught a familiar form sitting at the bar.  

It was the last place she’d expected to find him.  Sasuke simply being outside was shocking enough.  But Sasuke in a bar?  Sasuke drinking?  Sasuke being an average twenty-one year old?

Sakura felt like her heart was going to explode out of her chest.  She probably could’ve cried with relief on the spot.  At times, bringing him back had seemed like such a far fetched dream.  Even months after his return, sometimes Sakura swore it was all a daydream.  

Nonetheless, she maintained her distance from him.  Naruto wasn’t with him, so he’d probably ditched the blond for a quiet moment.  In spite of everything, Sasuke was still Sasuke.  Team seven still struggled for peace, but it finally seemed like a realistic goal.  

Sakura attempted to keep up the conversation, but she found that her eyes kept flickering to Sasuke.  She cursed her one track mind, but continued to wonder how long he'd been sitting there.  Was he meeting someone?

Another hour or so passed.  No one came to join Sasuke at the bar.  Ino left, saying she had an early shift at the flower shop to wake up to.  Tenten had a mission to prepare for, so she decided it was best to turn in as well.  The whole group headed out, shouting goodbyes as they peeled off to head towards their various apartments.  Sakura lingered in the doorway.  

“Are you coming, Sakura-chan?” Hinata inquired, gently tapping her fingers together.  It was an old habit from her genin days, and the action made Sakura smile.  

“I think I saw Sasuke-kun back inside.  I was going to say hi before I left.”  Hinata beamed knowingly, flushing as she did so.  She gently waved goodbye as she followed their friends down the cobbled street.

Turning back inside the bar, Sakura braced herself for whatever state Sasuke would be in.  She assumed he’d be irritable that she interrupted his peace, but no matter.  Sakura simply couldn’t walk out of the bar like they were just strangers.  It wasn’t her way.

As she approached him, however, she was met with a surprise.  

Usually, if she watched him carefully (and she did), Sakura might catch a glimmer of sadness in his eyes.  But it was always a quick flash, gone before she could’ve been sure she’d seen it or could even guess what had brought it on.  

She’d never seen sadness spelt so plainly on his face.  

Instantly she identified the culprit; there was a completely empty bottle of sake in front of him.  There was no telling how much more had come before it.  Sakura knew Sasuke to be a highly private person, and she respected that, but…

Could she feasibly just leave him, especially when he looked like that?  She sighed, knowing that she’d probably pay the price for interfering later, but she couldn’t quite talk herself out of it.

“Sasuke?  Are you okay?”  She wished she could’ve sounded more authoritative, but he just looked so much like a kicked puppy.  He whipped his head up in a flash, then grabbed it with a groan.  Sakura slid on to the stool next to him.  She almost reached out to him, but quickly caught her fingers before they touched blue fabric.

She leaned close to his face.  He was still doubled over on the bar, but turned to her as she moved closer.  When he met her eyes, he instantly shut his, recoiling back like he’d been hit.  Letting go of her hand, she reached out to him, putting a hand on his back.  In truth, she was a little frightened.  Sakura had always believed it’d be good for Sasuke to at least acknowledge his emotions, but she hadn’t foreseen herself as part of the event.  As she absently rubbed his back she could’ve sworn she heard him choke out a sob.  

“Okay, we’re going home,” she decided aloud.  Sasuke would die if he ever remembered he’d broken down in a bar.  

She paid the bartender from Sasuke’s wallet and let him to lean on her as he dismounted from the stool.  The bar was on the edge of the village, but Sakura didn’t mind the walk.  Sasuke seemed to manage fine as long as she was there to help him catch his balance.  He did not speak, but still appeared significantly miserable.  When they turned on to the main road, however, Sasuke stopped completely.  

He looked horrified.  A part of her wondered if he’d just processed his own actions, but she knew that couldn’t be it.  His face spoke of terror far beyond that.  

“Sasuke, c’mon, you need to get home,” she began, but he instantly jerked out of her touch.  She wasn’t able to keep the hurt off her face, and he saw it.  He looked frantically around for a moment before choking out, “I tried to kill you.”  He said it as if it’d only happened moments ago.  

Sakura froze.  They’d already had this “conversation” so to speak.  Sasuke had apologized to her, at least.  Granted, it had been a short and distracted apology, but she accepted it.  To her, it was simply another step in bringing him home.  Truthfully, she’d forgiven him the moment he chose to fight on their side.  

She grabbed his hand, not relinquishing her hold on it as he pathetically attempted to pull away.  “You did try to kill me.  But you also saved my life.”  He stopped struggling at that, swallowing heavily at her words.  “More times than I can count, too,” she added softly.  

His body went limp against hers.  “I don’t think it...works...like that?”  The spaces between his words were filled with hazy confusion.  She smiled into his shoulder.  

“Maybe not for everyone, but for me, it does.”  

Even when Sasuke woke up the next morning with a headache, he felt just barely lighter.  Maybe he didn’t forgive himself yet, but she did.

And that was a start.  

 


End file.
